She Wore Red Velvet
"She Wore Red Velvet" is the fifty-second episode of Justice League Action. Summary When Booster Gold is assailed by Red Velvet, a super woman from the future, who knows him and seems determined to destroy him, the Justice League needs him to take time-related corrective action so that they are not destroyed as well. Featuring Story Booster Gold is at a book signing event at Gotham Books for his autobiographical "All That Glitters" and has promised an appearance by Batman. The fans in the queue are not interested in him or his book and only complain that Batman is not there. As the scene begins to turn ugly it is interrupted by the appearance of a woman in a red superheroine's outfit with mask. She announces herself as Red Velvet but Booster does not recognise her. Using a red ring she targets him with a ray blast and Booster is forced to use his suit to shield himself with a protective bubble. As she continues to shoot at him, she says there is not much she won't do to get his attention and then disappears, leaving Booster standing in the smouldering ruins of the book shop. Later, in the Watchtower, Batman, Wonder Woman and Green Arrow are questioning Booster Gold about the mystery woman when the security system detects an intruder and Red Velvet appears from a time travel portal. She addresses Booster, using his private initials 'M. J.', and asks him if he has received her presents. Booster realises she must be a certain Margot that he knows, just before he is blasted again. Red Velvet then disappears before Green Arrow can hit her with an arrow. As the superheroes again question Booster about who she is and what gift she is likely to have sent, the Watchtower begins to experience the eruption of the volcano on which it rests. Booster assumes that Red Velvet must have caused it by going back in time to trigger the event, and so the four League members make a run for the Justice One hangar as the Watchtower begins to crumble away. Although the platform on which Justice One stands gives way, Wonder Woman is just able to arrest its fall down towards the rising lava long enough for Batman, Green Arrow and Booster to get inside and start the motors. With Wonder Woman onboard, the craft accelerates and clears the volcano just before it detonates, destroying the Watchtower. With their patience gone, the other three superheroes threateningly demand that Booster tells them who Margot is. The time-travelling entrepreneur relents and tells of how he met Margot Montgomery, a wealthy heiress, while down on his luck in the future Metropolis of the year 2462. It was love at first sight and they decided to get married, but, at the ceremony as he was about to take his vows, he realised that he was not good enough for her yet and ran out. He made for the space-time museum, where he was the night watchman, and borrowed a time suit so that he could travel back to the twenty-first century to make his fortune and then be able to support Margot. Batman notes, however, that he has not yet married Margot, implying that he never will and that she has come back from the future for revenge. While Booster grapples with the paradox, Red Velvet appears in the sky outside, calling him out and, when he does not respond, she blasts one of Justice One's engines. As the craft plummets to its doom, Batman urges Booster to take the necessary action, and so the latter opens a time portal and steps through with Batman following. Arriving at the wedding ceremony in the future, Booster has only been gone for a minute and, as Margot runs to greet him, he makes the pretence that he had only gone to fetch Batman as a celebrity 'bridesmaid.' As the ceremony proceeds, Batman notices that the ring that Booster produces is the same as that used by Red Velvet and he realises that Booster must have married Margot after all. At this point, Red Velvet appears and confirms that Booster Gold was the worst husband ever, before continuing to shoot red ray blasts at him. Batman throws a Batarang lariat around her and she is disabled with an electric shock, being caught by Booster. Meanwhile, Margot has been listening to all the negative things being said about her prospective husband and decides that she wants out. She throws the ring away and leaves and, at the same time, the ring on Red Velvet's finger disappears before she fades out of existence in Booster's arms. He is left calling out Margot's name. Later, in the Watchtower in the corrected timeline, Wonder Woman and Green Arrow cannot remember what happened before, while Batman tries to console Booster Gold for his emotional loss. However, the latter soon perks up and asks if he has the number for Giganta (whoever she is.) Notes Cultural References * The episode's title is a reference to the opening lyric of Blue Velvet, a 1950 love ballad popularized by Bobby Vinton's 1963 cover of the song. * The Batman fanboy compliments Red Velvet's costume and in a fourth-wall leaning reference, asks if she is an "Elseworlds Harley Quinn". Elseworlds was a comic book line which took DC characters and placed them in different settings of alternate universes and timelines. The series laid the groundwork for DC's 52 parallel Earths in its modern multiverse. This seems to imply that comic book series exists as a publication in the Justice League Action universe. * Booster Gold jokingly refers to the Batman fanboy as "Bat-Mite" when he asks who he should make his autograph out to when signing the fan's copy of his latest book. Bat-Mite was a character from the Silver Age Batman comics, a being from the 5th Dimension and was Batman's biggest fan. Bat-Mite often tried to help Batman, usually with disastrous results. * One of the disappointed fans thought Booster Gold was Animal Man. This is a callback to a running gag in the Justice League Unlimited episode "The Greatest Story Never Told", where people mistook Booster Gold for Green Lantern. ** Animal Man is a DC comics superhero character with powers similar to Vixen, in that he can tap into the abilities of animals. Animal Man has blond hair like Booster and a similar goggle lens face mask with blue and yellow colors as part of his costume, so it is easy to see why the fan was confused. 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